


Little notes

by Pupuni



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chloe is a terrible friend, F/M, Here comes the tomato ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-20 11:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11919882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pupuni/pseuds/Pupuni
Summary: After seeing a really bad fight between Chloe and Sabrina, Nathanael decided to write Sabrina encouraging notes.





	1. the fight

Sabrina stood at the gate of the house at 7:50.   
She and Chloe always meet at 7:40. But this time she didn't come.

She held the physics homework of the day. She looked around again.

Sabrina decided to call, but no body answered.   
_ Maybe Chloe was already in school? _ She wondered.    
She decided to look for her.   
  
She went into school and scanned the crowd of students, trying to find her friend.   
She passed through the classrooms, came to the library, went out into the yard and there!   
Sabrina noticed a yellow spot.   
Chloe was by the tree. What was she doing there?   
Sabrina looked at her watch, class is almost starting! And she still has to bring Chloe her homework.   
"Chloe!" She ran toward her.   
  
  
"So because Chloe is the best and I wanted to remind you how good friends we are, I asked my dady to order this bag for you for the beginning of the school year."   
She handed him a black, leather bag.   
  
Adrian didn't think he needed a new bag, but he smiled politely. It was kind of nice of her to think of him like that.   
  
"Well, what do you think? you love it, don't you? I always knew that black is your color."   
  
"it looks really nice, thank you Chloe." He reached out to take the bag and then-   
  
"Chloe!" Sabrina came out of nowhere, panting, her hair was disheveled and bunch of crumpled papers in her hand.   
  
She lost her balance and stumbled on Chloe. All her pages scattered in the air. They both fell to the floor and the black bag flew out of Chloe’s hand. It landed in a muddy puddle.   
Chloe rubbed her bruised head. Her clothes were covered with dust.   
  
"ugh! Get off me you dope!" She pushed her away and Sabrina hurried to stand back on her feet. Chloe looked around her.    
  
"Oh no, Chloe, I'm sorry, really, really sorry, sorry I didn't mean to, really, I-"   
  
Her fluency was interrupted when Chloe cried:"the bag!" She hurried to pick it up from the mud. She turned to Sabrina furiously: "Do you have any idea how much-”    
  
She stopped herself realizing that Adrian was still there. She forced a smile and said, "Don't worry, Adrikin, I'll take care of that, now if you'll excuse us, Sabrina and I have to have a private conversation.   
  
  
She took her hand and dragged her to a far corner of the yard.   
  
"Chlo-" began Sabrina, interrupted by Chloe.   
  
"Do you have any idea how long it took for this bag to arrive?! how many euros does is worth?! 3 months of salary your incompetent father earns are barely a half the price! What were you thinking?!”    
  
"W-We were going t-to be late and-" Sabrina started to say.   
  
"there's a free period! even that detail your little brain managed to forget?! I didn't think it was possible to be more clumsy than this loser, Marinette, but you somehow succeeded. The only reason I let you being my friend is because I feel sorry for you and that's how you thank me?! Is there anything you can do right at all?! " Chloe slapped her palm.   
  
In the side of the yard, Nathanael looked at them. They didn't notice him. He always likes to come to this spot to draw, but this time there was no way he could concentrate on painting.   
Sabrina seemed bent and constricted, she held her hand, in the spot were Chloe slapped her. She was silent. Her eyes were wide with fear.   
  
Nathanael wanted to go there and stop this, he wanted to help her.

But he froze.   
He remembered all the times Chloe bullied him. He remembered years of wicked words and vicious pranks. He remembered how she had ruined his artwork and revealed to the whole class that he had a crush on Marinette.   
  
He remembered the Evillustrator.    
  
He wanted to be a hero, to save damsels in distress, to protect those who cannot protect themselves and finally, to put Chloe in her place.   
But everyone saw how that went, huh?   
  
He wasn't a hero.   
  
Nathanael sighed and put his head in his hands.   
All he could do was stand by and watch as Chloe made another student miserable.   
And that was the one she called “ her BFF."   
Had Chloe always treated her that way?   
  
Chloe calmed down.   
"I'm sorry, Chloe." Sabrina eventually said with  a quiet voice. 

She looking down.   
"You'd better be sorry." She answered her and walked away.   
  
Sabrina remained there for a few moments. She detached a silver object from her shirt and stared at it in her hand.   
It was a flower brooch.    
Nathaniel was tense, he had a feeling he knew what was going to happen next.   
He expected to see a black butterfly fly though her in any moment.   
  
But no butterfly appeared.   
Sabrina put the brooch in her bag and walked away.   
  
  
Afterward, all the students went home.   
The reason for her free period was that there were discussions about holding a strike.   
The students were asked to come anyway if the strike did not take place and the studies would take place as usual.   
Eventually, the teachers decided to strike and all the students were released to their homes.   
  
Nathaniel sat in his room.   
He couldn't stop thinking about what he had saw earlier.   
He checked the Ladyblog every once in awhile,half expecting to see some reports of a new Akuma, chasing Chloe and demanding revenge.   
But there was nothing new.    
  
Nathaniel realized that he had never given too much thought to Sabrina.   
She was always just "Chloe's assistant". The student who always walked behind her like a shadow , filled her instructions without saying a word, and helped her make other students lifes into a nightmare.    
When she did passed in his mind, her name was always associated with Chloe's name. As if they were a single unit.   
And Nathaniel wanted nothing to do with Chloe.   
  
But he could not but help thinking about her frightened expression after Chloe slapped her.   
Or how small she seemed while Chloe yelled at her.   
He wasn't supposed to be surprised, it was Chloe after all.   
But Sabrina was her friend.   
He must have assumed she was protected from Chloe's bulling.    
Well, the case in the yard certainly proved to him he was wrong.   
  
Was there any way to help her?   
He paused.

What was he thinking?

Helping a bully?   
But when he thought about it, he realized that Sabrina had no part in what Chloe had done to him.   
She just stood beside her.   
Perhaps, Sabrina had suffered as much from Chloe as other students.   
She didn't say a word during their fight, just absorbed the shouts in submission. 

As if she had been present in some of Chloe's tantrums before and just waited for it to pass.

  
Maybe it was normal for them.

  
Maybe that's why she didn't get akumatized .

  
He made a decision.

  
He should try to help her.

  
Nathaniel took a sheet and began to write. 


	2. The first note

The next day the students went to school as usual.   
Chloe entered the classroom alone and sat down.   
  
A little later, Sabrina arrived, she moved closer to her bench.   
Chloe didn't respond to her presence, she took it as permission to sit down.   
She tried to sit at the end of the bench, as far away from Chloe as possible, in case she was still angry.   
  
Nathanael watched her from across the classroom.   
He held a note in the size of his hand.   
He had to find a way to give it to her without Chloe noticing.   
but how? They are always together.   
He sighed in frustration, it was a stupid idea.

If Chloe found out, she wouldn't leave him alone for weeks.

  
He looked at the note in his hand again and was filled with determination.

  
So he probably would have to make sure she wouldn't find out.

  
He just had to wait for the right opportunity.   
  
************   
The answer came in the form of a very big cat.   
  
The siren activated , followed by the sound of something big approaching.   
One of the innovations in the school, is akuma exercises.    
As there were fire exercises and earthquake exercises , Paris began to prepare itself in case of an Akuma attack.   
  
But this time it wasn't an exercise.   
  
"come on students, out of the classroom." Said Mrs. Bustier in a and calm voice, which could have been surprising if she hadn't seen most of her students turning into super villains last year.    
The students hurried out of the classroom.   
Nathaniel was the last one left.   
The building shook.   
He hesitated for a moment, and then ran to the first sit.    
He dropped the note into Sabrina's pencil case and hurried to join the rest of his classmates.   
  
Ten seconds later the building was destroyed by a giant gray cat.   
  
_ what the hell? _ He thought, but he couldn't stay there and find out.   
He kept going.   
The instructions in the case of an Akuma attack at school were to hide in one of the side corridors, to attach to the opposite wall to the direction where the Akuma was going to and wait for about 10 minutes until the miraculous cure turned everything back to normal. 

  
After everyone had settled in, Nathaniel checked the Ladyblog.   
He couldn't help his laugh after seeing the new akuma, a big cat that was named "Nyan Cat", according to the video. it passed in the streets of Paris, destroying everything in its path.   
  
"What are you laughing at?" Asked Juleka who sat next to him.    
He handed her his phone.   
  
Are you serious? No way, is that the akuma?" she said with a grin.   
  
"What Akuma?" Rose asked.   
Juleka turned the phone screen toward her.   
"I think Hawkmoth is out of ideas." She shook her head.   
  
The news about the new akuma began to spread between other students as well.   
  
“it's just a big cat? , is there anything special about it?" asked Mylene.   
  
"didn't he made a panther akuma before?" asked Max.    
  
Kim shivered. "Don't remind me."   
  
"it can shoot laser beams out of it's eyes, that turn other people into cats." said Alya.   
  
"I think it's the strangest one so far." Said Alix.   
  
"No way, what about that guy with the pigeons or the dubbing Santa?" Asked Nino.   
  
Chloe sighed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a cartoon."   
  
***********   
A few minutes later, the magical ladybugs swarm repaired the wrecked classroom.   
It turns out that the victim was a girl who used to feed the cats in the schoolyard and got mad when she saw other students harassing them.   
  
It was definitely a strange day.   
Nathaniel thought.   
But every day is strange in a city with superheroes and super villans.   
  
The students returned to classroom.    
Sabrina went to her sit and saw something sticking out of her pencil case.   
She took it and looked at it curiously.   
It was a small sheet, covered on one side with green and purple rhymes. In its center there was a black bow.   
She looked at the other side.   
  
_ "to: Sabrina _ __   
__   
_ I know things are looking bad right now _ __   
_ But please know that you are not alone. _ __   
_ It will be okay. _ __   
__   
__ Signed- a friend. "   
  
There was a little flower painted next to her name.   
Sabrina blushed, she gasped.   
She looked around, trying to find who had put this note there.   
Then She smiled a huge smile and held the note to her heart.   
  
Nathaniel gasped in amazement. He couldn't remember ever seeing her this happy.   
He smiled a little satisfied smile.   
He did a good thing.    
  
"Hey, what are you doing? The eacher in class, sit down." Chloe said.   
Sabrina quickly sat down.   
"And why are you smiling a silly smile?"   
  
"Ah, uh, um, n-no reason." Said Sabrina, trying to cover her smile.    
Chloe looked at her skeptically.   
  
"And remember that today I have a manicure at 4 o'clock and tomorrow we will go shopping, a new shoe store opened and I need help with all the bags. "   
  
"Yes, Chloe." Said Sabrina.   
  
It seems that Chloe forgave her for what happened yesterday.   
what a relief.   
  
Chloe continued to talk about their planned route in the mall and then the teacher continued the lesson from the same point where it stopped.   
But she couldn't concentrate.   
Her mind continued to wander toward the note she was still holding under the table.   
'Signed a friend'   
Someone wrote her a note.   
  
Someone was thinking about her.   
  
Someone tried to cheer her up.   
  
Someone who signed up as a 'friend'.   
  
She always felt as if no one had seen her in class. As if they hadn't really noticed that she was there.   
  
At least, no one but Chloe.   
  
But now she felt noticed.   
  
She felt cared.    
  
A warm feeling spread in her heart.   
This day was going to be a good day.   
  
************   
In the next class, Nathanael noticed something unusual.   
  
Sabrina raised her hand more often.    
  
She spoke louder.   
  
She smiled more.   
  
Did all this happen just because of one note?   
  
It hasn't been too obvious, if he hadn't thought about her, he probably wouldn't have noticed any different at all.   
But since he did think of her, he couldn't miss it.    
  
Nathanael wanted to see her that way more often.   
  
He turned a page in his notebook and began to write the next note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No no please don't go! I'm a serious writer, I promise! 
> 
> *******  
> Thank you very much for your nice comments ❤️


	3. Turquoise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD7tXEo19cM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's far from being perfect, I'll get better in the future.

 

Nathaniel sat next to the blank page.  
He didn't really know what to write.  
He always preferred painting.  
He added little paintings to the edges of the page and behind it, nothing too detailed, he didn't want to reveal his identity.  
He doodled her stars and butterflies-actually, maybe butterflies weren’t such a good idea ...  
He doodled her a pair of brown glasses and a little flower, girls like flowers. Right?  
Well he shouldn’t go over the top, it's not he writes love letters.  
He shook his mind.  
No, that was ridicules. He was just helping a girl from his class. Nothing beyond it.  
He didn’t even know her that well.  
  
And besides, he wasn’t over his last crush...  
_Marinette._  
She was radiant. She always cared about everyone,always spread joy around her.  
Marinette was those people who, when they entered the room, it became brighter.  
One of those people who make you feel important while talking to them, as if what you have to say truly important to them.  
People like Adrian, who she fell head over heels in love with.  
he signed.  
They are perfect for each other.  
He was sure they would be happy together.  
Nathaniel simply had to move on.  
And try to be a little more like them.  
They would probably appreciate what he was doing now.  
  
When he finished writing the note, he put it in his trouser pocket.  
  
it was ready.

*********

 

At 16:00, she and Chloe went to the beauty salon.  
First, Sabrina went to Chloe's house, and from there the limo drove them to the store.

 

in the limousine, Chloe showed Sabrina two pictures on her phone.  
"So I thought about baby pink shimmer or honey yellow gel.”  
"What do you think?"

  
Usually, Sabrina's job was to help Chloe pick a nail polish, to keeping her company until the manicure was done and taking a picture of the final result.  
  
"Um, the pink looks ni-"  
  
"I think I'll choose the yellow."  
Chloe did not always take her opinion, but it was fine. Chloe knew more about these things anyway.  
  
They arrived at the beauty salon.

It was a big white place. In one side of the room there was a line of big and comfortable chairs.

The walls were covered in colorful pictures and there were a few green plants in the corners.

In the center of the room there was a big table with chairs around it.

Chloe walked into the place as if she owned it.

Lina, the manicurist, walked her to the table.

Sabrina sat next to Chloe and Lina sat in the other side of the table. Behind her the wall was covered in shelves with many different shades of nail polish.

  
  
If Chloe felt extra generous, she thought Sabrina's nails were "in a terrible condition" or just wanted to upload a four-handed picture instead of just two, she suggested to Sabrina to get a manicure as well. In that case, Sabrina had no word about the choice of their nail polish.  
  
It wasn't one of those times.  
  
But just sitting there with Chloe was nice, too.

“Chloe! How's my favorite client is doing today? Oh and hey Sabrina”

Sabrina smiled shyly while Chloe rolled her eyes: ”whatever Lina. Today I want a honey-yellow gel.”

“coming right away.” she went to look for the right shade.

In the meantime, Chloe and Sabrina talked to pass the time.

  
"...And then I told her 'The circus is calling, they say they want their costume back.'” Chloe laughed.  
  
Sabrina smiled and nodded.  
  
"But now that I think about it, her suit was too much even for clowns, I mean, the only one who can wear so much red without looking ridiculous is Ladybug.”

  
Sabrina nodded again.

  
"By the way, you know that Ladybug came to visit me again last week, something about an akuma I think, I didn't really listen. But she stayed for a half hour, we really are the best friends in all of Paris, well, maybe but Adrien and I…”  
Chloe stopped her speech.  
  
Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips.  
  
Sabrina backed away.

  
Chloe said the following words in a cold and indiffrent voice.  
"What a shame that the gift I was going to give him was ruined."  
  
Oh boy.  
Sabrina knew she couldn't get away with it that easily.  
  
"Chloe Please please forgive me I said I was sorry, Please!” she begged.

  
Chloe stopped for a moment and checked on her nails, which were carefully dyeing honey yellow. She answered, without looking at Sabrina: "You're lucky I’m very forgiving person, and, that the damage can be fixed with dry cleaning, I’ll pretend none of this happened...

_If_ , you’ll study very hard to the physics exam on Tuesday.

I will not accept any grade lower than an A. Got it?"

  
Sabrina nodded quickly.  
  
"Yes, of course, don't worry, Chloe! I'll learn so much that I can recite it to you by heart!”  
  
Chloe smiled smugly.  
  
"Then I officially forgive you."  
  
"thank you thank you thank you Chloe!"  
  
The manicure was finished.  
  
After the manicure, Sabrina photographed Chloe's bright yellow nails. They were perfect, as usual.  
Sabrina checked various filters while she watched the light reflect in her new polish.

She uploaded it to instagram from Chloe's mobile.  
It seems that Chloe was satisfied with the result.  
The limousine arrived.  
Sabrina opened the door and waited for Chloe to go in first.  
At first she did it only after a manicure, because Chloe didn't want to touch anything and mess up the nail polish.

But over the years, Sabrina realized that this was one of the things Chloe was expecting of her, all the time.

*********

The next day, when she returned from the break, Sabrina was surprised to find another small note sticking out of her notebook.

Another one!

She hurried to pick it up.

It looked a little different from the previous one, it had no rhombus and no bowels.

Instead, there were little drawings of stars, flowers and a pair of glasses.

She turned the note over.  
  


_"Sabrina  
_  

_please believe in yourself._

_You can be very great._

_And one day, everyone will know it._

 

_Signed- a friend"_

 

There weren’t enough words to describe the joy she felt.

She jumped a little.

No one had told her such things before.

Except her father.

Who could have sended her those notes?

Maybe Chloe?

She was busy with her phone, with a bored expression on her face. She paid no attention to what Sabrina was doing at that moment.

Sabrina disqualified the thought, compliments from Chloe were rare. And she is not the type to send anonymous notes.

So who could it be?

 

Maybe ... Marinette?

She always cared about everyone.

No, not after what happened with the project.

She wouldn’t put that much effort just for her.

 

Maybe ... Rose? She was always so kind.

No, it can’t be her.

 

Maybe…

She looked around the classroom.

Her gaze rested on Adrian.

what if it’s him? He was a nice boy.

Oh no! If Chloe will found out that Adrian had sent Sabrina notes without her knowing about it, she would be furious!

Sabrina knew how possessive Chloe could be when it came to Adrian.

What if she thought she wanted him for herself?

She was terrified.

She looked at the note in her hand again.  
  


She took a deep breath.  
  


She didn’t know if this note was from Adrien.

And even if she did, there was no reason Chloe needed to know about this.

These are just small, harmless encouraging notes.

Besides, he and Chloe had been friends for years.

And she was also pretty, rich and full of confidence.

Everything Sabrina wasn’t.

If he was interested in one of them, that one would be Chloe.

There is no reason for Adrian or anyone else to be interested in her.

And it was okay.  
  


Sabrina already knew her place.

She had to support from the background while Chloe got the spotlight.

She had to sit quilety and nod while Chloe decided what to do.

She had to ignore her wishes if Chloe wished for something else.

She had to do her homework twice because Chloe was busy with other things.

Because Chloe was more important.

Because that's what friends do.

Because it's the best she'll ever have.

And it was fine.

really.

She was happy.

.

.

.

So why, while looking at the two anonymous notes in her hand, she felt better than while thinking about the brooch on her shirt?

*******

In the days that followed, Sabrina learned to look forward to these notes.

One was hidden in her pencil case.

Another was in a notebook.

One was inside the satchel.

And with each note, her day became brighter.

She wanted to hang them in her room, but she was afraid someone might see them.

Instead, she put them in a small and decorated box next her bed.

Whenever she was sad, she took out one of them and read it again.

 ***

It became some kind of game a- "Hide the note."

It was a challenge to pass notes to Sabrina without anyone noticing.

Espeacilly when he sat in the other side of the classroom.

Nathaniel had to be creative, quick and silent.

But it was all worth it when he saw the spark in her eyes when she spotted a new note.

 

************

after history class was over, Nathaniel gathered his stuff.

He had more pages on the table than most of the students, in case he wanted to draw.

Fortunately for him, Mrs. Bustier was much more forgiving than Ms. Mendeleiev when it came to paintings during class.

She agreed to turn a blind eye as long as it didn’t hurt his grades.

In fact, he didn’t understand how it was possible not to paint in class.

He had to sit in a chair, facing a blank page with a pencil in his hand.

It was not alloewd to speak without permission.

It was not alloewd to use smartphones.

And half the time he didn’t even have to write anything.

He had to do something with his hands, so when he held a pencil, his hands scribbled on the edges of the page as if by themselves.  
Some of his best painting were created during class.

As he walked out of the classroom, Nathanael was lost in his thoughts.  
  
In a few days they had a physics test, which was never his favorite subject.

Even math was better.

Maybe he, Rose and Juleka can study together?

Unfortunately, he didn’t notice what was in front of him and bumped into something at the doorway. From the intensity of the collision, Nathaniel fell on the wooden floor and

all his papers scattered.

He groaned and rose slowly, brushing the dust off his clothes. He turned in the classroom and began collecting the scattered papers.

After half a minute he felt a gentle poke on his shoulder.

He turned to see a pile of pages reaching out toward him.

He raised his head.

Sabrina?

"It's yours, isn’t it?" she asked. She had an awkward smile.

"Yes..." he replied in suprise. He didn’t notice she was there.

Nathanel hesitantly took the pages from her hands.

Sabrina did something nice. For him.

"... Thank you," he said, still surprised.

_Did she know he is the one to send her notes?_

Her smile grew.

They quietly gathered together the rest of the pages.

Sabrina found one of the pages behind the teacher's desk.

When she turned it over, she saw it was a painting.

Two birds flying over the sea at the sunset.

The painting was painted in a variety of colors, but they all blended naturally, even shades she didn’t imagine would look good together.

"Hey Nathanel, that's really good." She remarked.

Nathaniel went to see what she was looking at.

Oh, it was _that_ painting.

He painted it yesterday during a particularly boring literary lesson. They studied a poem about sea birds and Nathaniel envied them because they could fly outside instead of being stuck in the classroom, like him.

In his opinion, it wasn’t one of his best paintings, he wasn’t very good at painting birds.

"do you really like it?" He asked doubtfully.

"Yes, of course, it's really beautiful, I like the colors you picked, they make it look alive." She replied with surprising confidence.

"And besides, I've always loved birds." She added.

He looked at the painting again, now he saw it in a whole new light. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it had a free and peaceful atmosphere.

And Sabrina seemed to like it.

He looked into her eyes, which were behind a pair of thick brown glasses.

_turquoise_.

Like his own eyes.

And they had the same spark that appeared whenever she was happy.

She noticed his gaze and tried to retrieve the painting.

He rested his hand on her hands and gently moved them away.

"T-take it." Nathaniel replied. His voice sounded strange to him for some reason.

Sabrina looked at him questioningly.

"If you like it, you can have it."

"But, this is your painting ..."

She looked away shyly.

"I have a ton of paintings, really, it’s okay." he insisted. A strange feeling began to rise in his stomach.

Sabrina looked up at him.

She still seemed hesitant.

Then there was a distant voice.

_"Sabrina, where are you?"_

Sabrina blinkedm, a tense expression appeared on her face.

She gave him the rest of the papers.

"I'm coming Chloe!" She called.

Sabrina froze for a little moment and then put the painting in her bag.

She turned to Nathaniel one more time.

"Um, thank you for the painting, you’re an amazing artist."

She ran out of the classroom with her bag in her arms.

On her way out, she turned her head and shouted, "See you later!" Before she was gone.

 

He remained staring at the door for a few moments, holding the stack of pages in his hands. A small smile crept into his lips.

"Bye ..." he muttered.

 

He put the rest of the papers in his bag, and then, with a strange sense of lightness, he walked out of the classroom.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (no they're not in love. yet.)  
> (yes I know it's bland)  
> (also, I never had a menicure before)

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  **********  
> Sorry if I had any grammar mistakes, it's one of my first fanfics and English isn't my native language. Feel free to correct (politely) in the comments.


End file.
